Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently driving a significant infrastructure build-out and productivity gains across nearly every sector from software to healthcare and well beyond. The companies providing the essential hardware and software platforms for AI are the most direct beneficiaries of the current boom. This includes chipmakers and cloud service providers that are seeing massive capital expenditures.
Beyond pure tech, companies across various industries are leveraging AI to innovate their respective businesses. In short, there is an abundance of great companies that offer long-term investors the chance to become part owners of quality businesses and join in on the potential of the AI revolution. If you have $2,000 to invest, here are two no-brainer AI stocks to put some or all of that into right now.
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1. Microsoft
The Microsoft (MSFT 0.76%) Azure cloud computing platform continues to position itself at the epicenter of the growing demand for high-performance computing (HPC) necessary for AI workloads. The company's early and deep partnership with OpenAI gave it access to cutting-edge AI models which are integrated across its product lines and underscore its front-runner position in enterprise AI.
Microsoft's Copilot utilizes OpenAI's latest models to automate complex tasks like drafting personalized sales emails, summarize multipage legal contracts, and generate meeting transcripts. Copilot is integrated directly into widely used products like Microsoft 365 (Office, Teams, Outlook), GitHub, and Dynamics 365, thereby leveraging a massive built-in user base for monetization. Over 230,000 organizations have used Copilot Studio to build AI agents. Customers have built over one-million custom agents in total.
The use cases for Microsoft's AI tools are virtually endless for large enterprise organizations. For instance, hospitals use Azure OpenAI for personalized diagnostics, such as analyzing MRI scans alongside medical histories to tailor treatments for patients. Organizations deploy sophisticated AI agents that handle routine inquiries, draft knowledge-base articles, and other customer-support solutions. And the list goes on.
NASDAQ: MSFT
Key Data Points
Then there's Microsoft Foundry, a unified, end-to-end platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for building, deploying, and managing enterprise-grade AI applications and agents. The platform integrates various AI components, models, and tools under a single layer in Azure, and provides a structured environment to move from prototype to production. Microsoft is moving beyond simple AI assistants to autonomous AI agents that can perform complex business workflows and tasks with minimal human intervention.
Microsoft's Foundry Models features an extensive catalog of over 11,000 models from Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and other providers. The Foundry Agent Service uses the Microsoft Agent Framework to coordinate single or multiple specialized agents into complex, multistep workflows. Enterprises can use these agents to do things like automate complex financial transactions involving multiple steps or optimize various stages of the retail supply chain like inventory management and logistics coordination.
Demand for AI training and inference is fueling massive capital expenditures for data centers and graphics processing units (GPUs). Azure and other cloud services revenue increased by 40% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. The company has delivered total revenue of $294 billion and profits of $105 billion over the trailing 12 months alone. If you want to invest in a top AI stock, Microsoft is a no-brainer contender to add to your buy list.
2. Symbotic
Symbotic (SYM 1.41%) provides an AI-powered robotic and software platform to modernize and automate warehouses and distribution centers for large retailers and wholesalers. Its technology offers a critical solution to the supply chain industry's challenges. Symbotic's core offering is a modular system that transforms the entire warehouse operation from receiving goods to building optimized, outgoing pallets.
Its fleet of self-driving mobile robots (aptly called Symbots) with advanced computer vision and sensing capabilities move goods throughout warehouses at speeds up to 25 mph. Its system uses a unique storage structure and algorithms to maximize inventory density and slash a warehouse's physical footprint by 30% to 60% compared to traditional operations.
Symbotic's proprietary AI software orchestrates the entire system, including managing complex robot routing and optimizing tasks in real time to build mixed SKU pallets that are ready for efficient store delivery. The rise of e-commerce has put immense pressure on other retailers to increase efficiency and speed. Symbotic provides the AI-powered solution that allows major companies like Walmart, Target, and Albertsons to keep pace.
NASDAQ: SYM
Key Data Points
The system's accuracy rate is exceptionally high at 99.9999% for task handling, a level unachievable with manual labor. Symbotic also has a joint venture with SoftBank called GreenBox, which offers a warehouse-as-a-service model to companies that may lack the capital means for a full-system purchase.
Symbotic's contracted backlog of approximately $22.5 billion provides exceptional revenue visibility for years to come and sets it apart from more speculative growth plays in the AI space. The company is expanding into new verticals, including healthcare, as it sets its sights beyond the retail space.
While Symbotic is not currently profitable, it delivered revenue growth of $2.3 billion (up 26%) in its fiscal year 2025 which ended on Sep. 27. The company ended the fiscal year with a strong cash position of $1.25 billion in cash and cash equivalents, which increased by $467 million from the prior quarter. Walmart accounted for about 85% of its revenue in the year.
As the world's largest retailer, Walmart provides a stable, predictable source of revenue for Symbotic. If you're interested in a growth-oriented AI business rather than an established tech leader, Symbotic could be well worth considering.
